5.24.2011

I started making tissue pom-poms a few weeks ago for Daphne's party. I really just wanted to make sure I could pull it off -- so I made only two. I have to say, they didn't come out perfectly. I don't think I did anything wrong. I really struggled to get them to look full enough and ended up ripping them in a few spots. I'll use them anyways – I'll probably end up arranging them so that the sections I ruined aren't showing. Hopefully the next batch will turn out better.

I have to say, at times, I've felt silly for going to so much trouble for a first birthday. I worry that I'm coming off obnoxious or even over-the-top. Decorations are really important to me – they set the mood, in my opinion. This party for Daphne will be small. There will be no moon bounces. No clowns. No DJs. No photographers (except me!).

I've even felt guilty for asking people to attend birthdays (mine and Brian's included). I feel like I'm asking too much. Until I read this post at Kelle Hampton's blog Enjoying the Small Things.

She says: "Here's what I think about birthdays:Celebrate them. Plain and simple. Whether you are two or forty-two. It's not a promotion. It's not a graduation. It's the anniversary of freaking life. And the older I get, the more I'm not okay with hearing people downplay their big day like it's no big deal."

"There may not be grand parties every year, but there will be celebrations--the confirmation that yes, I'm so glad you were born. A cupcake with a candle, a toast with paper cups, a lighter in the air floating to the chorus of a birthday anthem. I'll make it special because it is so worth recognizing. And I'm going to try and do better at remembering others' birthdays too. Less half-ass day-after texts. More showing up at random places with obnoxious balloon bouquets. Yes, that."

Our little angel is turning one next month and it IS a big deal. I will repeat this over and over when I start to second guess the time and effort I'm putting in to making her day special.

*P.S. Tissue pom-poms make great decorations for babies/kids rooms! These are hung in Daphne's room for now to keep the cats from devouring them, but I have a good feeling they'll be back in her room after the party!

5.20.2011

I can finally share Daphne's invite – they went out early this week. Can I just tell you how hard it is these days to get a shot of Daphne facing the camera? It seems like most of my photos these days are blurry. She is moving so quick! I must have taken a hundred photos of her in this outfit.

Keeping with the pink and grey theme, I dressed the soon-to-be birthday girl in a grey top with white hearts and a pink chiffon flower headband (from Etsy!). I'll come clean and say that her headband is actually not that shade of pink. I had to adjust the color to match the pinks I was using in the card. Since this photo was taken, Daphne has sprouted a top tooth with three more up there waiting to bust through! I'm still waiting for that hair to grow in though...

In my life, the invite package doesn't stop at just the actual invitation. I printed out a grey and white stripe design to cut out and use as envelope liners. Even though the save-the-date only went out to family members (and it was digital), I wanted to tie the two pieces together. That's just me being lame.

5.13.2011

We've been wanting to do this for quite some time, in fact – dare I say it – we thought about doing it before YHL went all out and did it. A variation of the wall collage was in my photo book, the one I talked about here. After seeing the gallery that YHL created, seeing ours may be quite anti-climatic. Our wall is smaller and our collage is still in the works. We plan to add as we go.

I'll be honest here. We don't usually do things the way you are "supposed to". I'm an eyeball-it kind of gal. Brian holds the frame up where I want it and he puts an indentation in the wall with the nail. It's very technical and very exact. We didn't go out and buy new frames – we used what we already had. Some were dark brown, some multi-colored. We painted them all the same bright white and went on our way. We even painted one of them the same color of our bedroom. I think we are finally getting to the bottom of that paint can.

As you can probably guess, we already have wall-to-wall photos of Daphne, our family, our friends, Daphne, us, Daphne, Daphne, and Daphne. I went searching for keepsakes we could frame in lieu of photos. I came up with a 1st anniversary card (from Brian) and a Costa Rica postcard from our trip a few years ago. I hope to add more things like those as the years go on. In the mix – a photo of us from Senior Week circa 2001 and Junior Prom circa 2000. There aren't many any photos of that caliber gracing the walls of the Packer household. And probably for good reason...

I should add that the wall ended up so empty because we were forced to move our wine rack down to the basement where Daphne can't get to it. It was just a matter of time. And we knew it.

P.S. Points to the person who noticed the new button on my sidebar. Even more points to the person who visits MRG Foto. I studied Graphic Design with Micky in college and was always an admirer of his work. His photos are stunning – see for yourself!